The Ten Year Paradox
by GingaHour
Summary: Since he's done the time traveling thing, it's only fair that Tsuna does the parallel world traveling thing too. At seventeen years of age, Tsuna is thrown into a world where Sawada Tsunayoshi disappeared at the age of seven and ten years down the line the Vongola is still undergoing succession issues. And the Undicesimo is the younger brother Tsuna never had. Sawada Tsunashige.
1. First Step

Haha gosh this story is written in a style I'm really not used to, so there we are. It's also really choppy and written in a rush of "God I don't want to do finals hey let's write a story instead!" I just really wanted a "Tsuna learns to get along with the sibling he never had" kind of thing, and it's always fun to throw original canon Tsuna into fish out of water scenarios.

* * *

The Ten-Year Paradox

First Step: Destroy the Future

* * *

Between the slowly dissipating smoke and alarmed shouting of voices, Tsuna sighs, mentally strikes out "grape candy" from the grocery list, and makes a resolution to cut Lambo's allowance. For whatever good that will do.

But when he comes face to barrel of a handgun, Tsuna squeaks in a particularly un-mafioso like manner and dodges just in time as the bullet streaks past his cheek. It stings, but Tsuna is hardly paying attention to that, hyper mode sliding into place. He equips his Vongola gear and shoots upwards into the air to assess his situation.

He's outside, Tsuna notes. There are around fifteen men in black suits with guns.

It's broad daylight; what do these men think they're doing, attacking his twenty-seven year old self so openly?

The intersection they're on looks startlingly familiar – it's the one he rounds when visiting his mom. Except the trees look oddly short. Why is he being targeted in Namimori?

Tsuna's flames calm him, hyper-focusing him on his situation. Right. He can think about this later. Right now these men are in a civilian neighborhood with illegal weapons, attempting to kill him.

None of the Mafiosi – because what else could they be but? – think to look up.

(Another oddity; there were few in the mafia world who did not know the Vongola Decimo fought mostly airborne. Anyone with enough sense would have looked up _first_ before anything else.)

Taking his chance, Tsuna throws himself between the men, aiming to knock-out, rather than damage. A few well placed hand chops to the back of the head later, Tsuna lands quietly on his toes behind the men.

They fall over, unconscious.

Hyper mode fizzles out on Tsuna's forehead. He takes a deep breath, stemming his oncoming panic attack as long as he can.

"_Hieeeeeee_!"

There were _Mafiosi_! In Namimori! How did they get past Hibari? How did they get past their Shouichi-Spanner-Giannini fortified security system? Moreover wasn't this the future? That was the Ten Year Bazooka's smoke wasn't it?

Tsuna's head swims with questions. And worries. Of the few trips to the future Tsuna has had in his lifetime, very few spoke of sunshine and rainbows. Or rather none did, but now that Byakuran was a kind-of-friend rather than enemy, Tsuna had hoped things like this wouldn't happen anymore.

There is blood on the ground where Tsuna first arrived on – there is no doubt as to whose blood that is.

Tsuna feels faint.

At the very least, his five minutes are almost over. Hopefully this won't be his future.

Going down to such attackers – what would Reborn say?

Right before Tsuna disappears in a puff of smoke, he thinks he hears a soft voice calling him.

"Tsu-kun?"

* * *

He's. He's vaguely horrified.

"That was Mom…!" Tsuna whispers, mortified, and hides his head in his hands. Out of all the ways for his mother to get involved in this awful business – !

But wow had his mom aged well. She looked ten years younger, never mind ten years older! She even had her hair long like she used to when Tsuna was... younger….

Tsuna pauses in his train of thought, suddenly realizing where he is. It's the same intersection he'd just been in. The trees are taller, the Mafiosi and the blood are gone, but it's definitely the same street Tsuna had been on.

He should have been returned to wherever his ten year later self had been, right?

Why is he in the same location as ten years before?

* * *

So the real paradox of the Ten Year Bazooka is that the future the user is transported to isn't their future at all.

It goes like this: every time the bazooka is used, the self from the direct future line ten years from that moment is sent back in time to the time the bazooka is used from. In the meantime, new decisions are made, infinitely more parallel verses are created, and when five minutes are over, the future self is sent to the direct future line before all these decisions have been made and the past self is returned from the last direct future line connected from the past.

Basically the direct future line isn't direct any more but a parallel universe that will never happen in this universe, and the past self returns to an entirely different current universe and timeline than once it left.

Or something. Gokudera said much more after that, but it was hard to follow as was.

In other words, despite all the years Lambo used the bazooka, never once did their Lambo ever get called back to the past.

It's an… odd idea. After all, if their direct past isn't the timeline to connect directly to their present, then what time does? There was some quantum mechanic principle that had to do with this, but as far as Tsuna is concerned, it just means that he doesn't have to worry about Lambo being left suddenly vulnerable because of something his younger self did in a fit of temper.

It does make him wonder what kind of Lambo would come out if they used some kind of Reverse Ten Year Bazooka though.

"The dangers of something stupid like that would change _this_ present, you realize, right?" Reborn pins the edge of Tsuna's suit jacket with an expertly thrown fountain pen to the back of the plush leather chair, and Tsuna strangles out a startled squeak. "Don't think stupid things and do your work, Loser-Tsuna." Reborn admonishes, leaving his own stack of papers in a loud flop of manila folders.

Hyperventilating, Tsuna manages out, "Please tell me this pen isn't from the Pesca Boss' desk or something."

"It is."

Tsuna wheezes.

"It's okay – they'll be handing over half their possessions to us in a week as part of their debt payment anyways," Reborn reasons unreasonably.

"To the bank, you mean," Tsuna tries.

Reborn raises an eyebrow, "The bank Vongola ru – "

"Oh my god, Reborn, I'm trying to run a legitimate trade here please stop referring to businesses we support as _ours_." Tsuna nearly dies as Reborn aims and shoots unerringly at the head of the chair.

"The bank the _Vongola run_," Reborn says, very pointedly, "Don't think sugarcoating the way you reference things is going to make them any less illegal, No-Good-Tsuna. You've got a long way to go before you can claim anything like those bold statements of yours."

Tsuna makes a pathetic sound. "Yessir."

* * *

There's something definitely wrong.

It's something even Tsuna can figure out, hyperactive intuition or no. He plops himself onto the ground, vaguely aware he's in the middle of the street, but his existential crisis is currently more important than whatever hypothetical traffic he may block.

Thinking is not Tsuna's strongest point, so he tries to start from the beginning.

There was… smoke. From the Ten-Year-Bazooka. Yes. Probably.

His ten-year-later future involved (will involve?) him being cornered by Mafiosi and shot. Possibly. (There was blood on the ground, but Tsuna is. Not. Thinking about that. Not now.)

When the effects of the bazooka wore off, Tsuna was still in the same spot he'd just been in. Though in a possibly different time.

This should be his time now. The correct time. Date. Year.

Tsuna decides to stick to the optimistic view on his situation and makes for the office building Nono had bought out for them downtown as temporary Japanese Vongola base while Hibari (and Tsuna, but largely Hibari) muscled out the rights to build an underground base underneath Namimori.

(Tsuna, determined to stick to his Legal Vongola plan as long as he could, vehemently denied any offers from his father to ah. "Make" the landowners hand over rights. For free.)

* * *

The offices belong to a small realtor company and are you interested in finding an apartment nearby, sir?

Tsuna politely refuses their offers, his mind a thousand miles away.

M-maybe he got the wrong building? But no, the address is right, and Tsuna can see from the nearest window that the adjacent buildings aren't Vongola either.

This doesn't make sense.

"I-I'm sorry," Tsuna says, between the realtor encouraging him to come look at the layout for the new apartment building complex being built, "But ah, what is the date today?"

"It's the seventh of July, sir," the realtor recites faithfuly.

"And the year?" Tsuna adds, slightly apprehensive.

The relator looks at Tsuna funny, but answers his question anyways.

Tsuna feels his blood run cold, and his hyper intuition screams at him.

* * *

It is. The right date. The right time. After his mishap, the bazooka had taken Tsuna back to his right time, down to the hour.

Then why is Vongola not there?

Desperate to reassure himself that he hasn't gone nuts or forgotten something, Tsuna traces his steps through his neighborhood. The shopping district looks no different from before, the neighbor's Chihuahua is still there, terrifying as ever, and as Tsuna approaches the schools, he even sees Hibari! Who looks no different, thank god.

"Hibari-san?" Tsuna asks, relieved to find a familiar face, "Hibari-san do you know what happened to the base? Did something happen? How long was I gone?" Maybe. Maybe he heard the person wrong! The bazooka could have sent him into the wrong time or something. Something.

Hibari, tenses in the way that he does when a new face approaches him and growls, threatening, "What base? Who are you?"

Tsuna freezes, "D-don't make such bad jokes, Hibari-san – it's me! Sawada Tsunayoshi? You terrorized me all through middle school and high school!" He's his (unwitting) Guardian!

Hibari frowns at him, tonfas already out, "I don't remember such a herbivore attending these schools. _Who are you?_"

Tsuna barely dodges Hibari's first attack, still stricken at the information.

Hibari might not like him very much, but he would never feign to be strangers. There is. Something not right. Very not right.

Tsuna flees.

* * *

What was that?!

Tsuna stops running only when he stops feeling Hibari's killing intent. And then runs a whole five blocks more, just in case.

Tsuna leans against the nearest wall for a full minute before he realizes where he is. This is his home. He really is a whimp, running straight for his mother without even thinking about it. Really. The next time Lambo calls him loser, he'd deserve it – wait.

Tsuna turns towards the mailbox, breath hitching.

Another family's nameplate sits where "Sawada" is supposed to be.

Tsuna is definitely certain that this is his home. This isn't like the office that looks the same as any other office building downtown. This is his _home_, the one he's lived in for the past seventeen years of his life.

Tsuna takes a deep breath. This was it. He finally lost it. Reborn finally hit him hard enough to kill brain cells and induce artificial memory loss, dementia, something.

Or.

Tsuna tries really hard not to come to this conclusion, but there's something that has to be said about strange, illogical situations in his life.

The Ten-Year-Bazooka hadn't taken him to the future at all.

Maybe it'd taken Tsuna to the past.

* * *

Tsuna stares apprehensively as Gokudera's bombs emit sparkles at him.

"Tenth, I don't care if he helped us in the future," Gokudera says, anger thinly veiled, "I say we get rid of him _right now_ before he can do us more damage."

Gokudera's hands twitch towards his belt buckle – towards his _Vongola Gear_ – and Tsuna pulls out his best "please don't blow anything up" face.

"G-gokudera-kun! Don't be hasty. I'm sure Giannini didn't mean anything wrong by it – and he really does become an amazing inventor in the future! He's been working the hardest out of all of us to become the kind of person he'd been in that time," Tsuna soothes, wondering where Yamamoto is. He's much better at derailing Gokudera. Or incensing him. Nevermind. "We should give him a chance. Besides, this is also why we have Spanner and Shouichi-kun too. I thought I told Gianinni to lay off the weapons…."

A thought occurs to Tsuna.

"Er, he didn't happen to. Uh. 'Upgrade' anything else, did he…?"

"Hey guys! Look!" Yamamoto saunters in, holding a. Is that a sword? Why is it bending like that. "Gianinni said he made my sword more flexible, but this looks like it's too bendy, huh? Good thing I left Shigure Kintoki with my dad. Haha!"

To save himself more headache, Tsuna makes the executive decision to confiscate everyone's weapons for the time being.

He hadn't gotten to Lambo yet before the bazooka blew up in his face.

* * *

So.

_So._

That time with the Mafiosi. That could have been the past.

Except Tsuna doesn't remember ever having encountered anything like that when he was younger, and he definitely doesn't remember ever being _shot_. Well. Before Reborn, that is.

So then, just where had the Ten-Year-Bazooka taken him to?

There was also something else. Something about the dangers of a backwards Ten-Year-Bazooka. Reborn had said something to Tsuna about changing the direct past line. Something about…

"_The dangers of something stupid like that would change this present, you realize, right?"_

Change this present. Tsuna would have made his present into a parallel world from the direct future line his time connected to with the Ten-Year-Bazooka.

So.

Maybe he was in a parallel world?

… Or this could be his world and he'd just completely, accidentally obliterated his future. Present.

… Think positive, Tsuna.

If it's parallel worlds, there's at least one person Tsuna knows he can talk to.

Hoping to god he has enough change to work a pay phone, and that Byakuran has the same cell number in this odd place, Tsuna fumbles out his wallet and walks toward the nearest phone booth.


	2. Second Step

This one is more world set up - we'll start getting answers in a chapter or two.

* * *

Panic stifles the air as shouts ring out to "Bring that stupid Turf Top to the Tenth's office and _do it now_!" and "No one, _absolutely no one_, is to enter the room!" and another, "Where the hell is that _Boxing Bastard_?! _Shit_!"

Actually, those are all Gokudera Hayato's, but the boy is enough to carry the emotionally charged atmosphere by himself.

Whispers and gossips fly through the office like wildfire, from things like, "There's been an attack!" to "The Tenth is dead!"

Sawada Tsunayoshi cannot be dead. Not after everything the boy has already done. Will do. Shouichi has invested too much into the boy to let such a thing happen.

Shouichi storms through the hallways, Spanner on his heels, as he makes his way up to the top floor of the tiny office building acting as headquarters for the Japanese branch of the Vongola. Shouichi curses the building's layout as he climbs the stairs, too agitated to wait for an elevator like a normal person. It doesn't help he's coming from the underground lab.

For the first time in a while, Shouichi doesn't have a concrete plan in mind other than "get to Tsunayoshi's office" and "_figure out what the hell is going on_".

Shouichi hardly makes it to the office door before it bursts open, leaving him stupidly reaching for the door handles that aren't there anymore. A severe looking Reborn stares Shouichi down (how does he do that he's _five_), and drags him in with a gruff, "Good, you're here. We're going to need your flames too."

Flames? What? "R-Reborn-san? What's going on? Half the office thinks Tsunayoshi-kun's been _atta_— oh."

Shouichi finds himself staring at a small boy lying on the soft carpet floor of Tsunayoshi's office, bleeding. The hair looks frighteningly familiar, but the boy is… young. Maybe five with how small he is, but Shouichi has never been great with judging children's ages. "Reborn-san, just who—"

"We extremely don't have time to explain," Sasagawa Ryohei says, and Shouichi belatedly realizes that the Vongola Storm, Rain, and Sun Guardians are in the room with them, all looking a little feral and harried. They're all hunched over the boy, Gokudera's and Sasagawa's flames pouring out at full blast even as Yamamoto Takeshi works at something on the child's left shoulder.

It's a bullet, Shouichi recognizes with a jolt, and feels ill.

Shouichi comes to kneel beside Reborn, wincing at the squelching and feeling of wetness seeping through his pants against his knees. He pulls out his best ring and support box and asks, "How is the situation?"

"Not good," Gokudera spits out. "The Te—the kid lost way too much blood. Any more and he'll start going into shock – _do you have that bullet out yet or not_?!"

Yamamoto doesn't even flinch at his fellow Guardian's tone, eyes intensely concentrated on his work. "Just… a little more… there!" Something metallic pops out of the boy and immediately their flames converge on the exposed area.

The flesh knits together, closing the wound, but even their flames cannot replace the blood the child has lost already.

"We're going to need a doctor—" Shouichi starts.

Reborn cuts him off. "Shamal is on his way. We can't take this kid to the hospital just yet." He grimaces and angles his face in a way that casts his fedora's shadow over it sinisterly. "I'm sure you've realized this by now, Irie. This kid is Tsuna."

Shouichi swallows thickly. He doesn't want to consider the possibility, but it's hard to deny the child's resemblance. "Y-yes," he admits. "But this child is—" five.

"Our best guess is that this is the Tenth's ten-year-younger ("The kid is _seven_?" Shouichi blurts stupidly.) self." Gokudera shoots Shouichi a dirty look, but he looks slightly less antsy now that the boy isn't freely bleeding out anymore. "The stupid cow's Bazooka went off and Gianinni—" Shouichi leans away, Gokudera's dark aura just a bit frightening. "—touched the damn thing – it wouldn't be odd if it started working in the reverse or something now."

The lights of their flames die out as the wound closes completely, and Sasagawa pulls back, sighing. "We've extremely done what we can, but tiny-Sawada is still extremely pale."

"Hey," Spanner says, and Shouichi jumps, having forgotten the man had come in with him. "If it's the Ten-Year-Bazooka that brought the kid here, shouldn't he have gone back to his time by now?"

Gokudera grimaces. "He's been here for at least fifteen minutes now, and the Tenth – older Tenth – hasn't come back yet either. We're going to need you guys to check over the Bazooka and see what's wrong with it. Considering the state the kid arrived in..."

"Wait, he _arrived_ in this time like this?!" Shouichi stands up, feeling numb, "That means the Tsunayoshi-kun of ten years ago was in some kind of situation?"

"Maa, maa, calm down, Irie," Yamamoto urges. "We don't know what's going on yet ourselves. Let's wait to pass judgment, yeah?"

"Get that bazooka analyzed first," Reborn orders. "And then we'll decide on what to do."

Shouichi shivers. The ex-Arcobaleno's face promises pain and death. Notwithstanding inventor solidarity, Shouichi is uncertain just how long he can keep Gianinni from Reborn's wrath.

Hopefully long enough for them to retrieve Tsunayoshi from whatever mess he'd gotten himself into this time.

The boy is the only one who can stem his tutor's ire, after all.

* * *

The Ten Year Paradox

Second Step: The Vanishing Child

* * *

"Tsunayoshi-kun!" Byakuran shouts across the hard plastic phone, and Tsuna nearly drops the thing in surprise. "So you _are_ alive! My, how did you get my phone number?"

Tsuna gulps and gropes for an answer. "Uh. You might not believe me, but I'm from… another… universe? I think? I was hoping you would know." Wait. "_Alive_? Wait! Why wouldn't I be?"

Please don't be some post-apocalyptic future where he died to defend his family or something. He had enough of those for ten lifetimes.

"A parallel universe, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Byakuran hums nonchalantly, as though all of Tsuna's time-travelling problems aren't because of him. "I see. I can check for you, but that might take a while. My powers have been sealed after all," the man singsongs and Tsuna winces. "Either way, you're in Namimori, aren't you, Tsunayoshi-kun? Don't wander far~ I'll come pick you up okay? Ciao!"

The phone clicks.

Tsuna listens to the dial tone incredulously. He barely got to say anything!

…What did Byakuran mean, "So you are alive!" Alive. Like he isn't supposed to be? The phrase sets off so many of Tsuna's internal alarms, he's not sure what to panic over first. Just what is going on with this world's him?

…At the very least he hadn't started out in a coffin. Tsuna isn't sure if his heart can take any more of that kind of thing.

* * *

Tsuna has never made it a policy to carry around too much cash with him – that just screams "illegal member of society" which – which is true (he's working on fixing it!) but that doesn't mean he has to live the stereotype. So Tsuna has about 6,000 yen on him at max.

He's torn between spending the cash on food or a night at a hotel when he stops walking, realizing where he is.

Takesushi's blue signs greet him, and Tsuna can't help it.

He goes inside.

"Welcome to Takesushi! Please have a seat wherever you'd like!" Yamamoto greets him, and Tsuna has to blink his surprise away.

"Ah, Yamamoto –" Tsuna says before he can stop himself, and he bites his lip. If he's possibly in a parallel world, what did it make this Yamamoto? An anti-Vongola assassin? Or something?

"That's me! And my dad too." Yamamoto grins at him, and Tsuna wonders how he could have considered Yamamoto dangerous (to him) at all. "Do I know you from somewhere? You look oddly familiar."

Surprised for the second time that minute, Tsuna stares at the other boy, mouth hanging open. "I, uh, uhm." Reborn would shoot him for his stuttering. "I went to your school. Before, I mean."

Very articulate.

"Ah, I see! Elementary or something?" Yamamoto nods. "I think I remember... Er, what's your name again?"

"Tsuna," Tsuna says, mouth dry. "Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Yamamoto hems and haws, head tilting. "Mnn, I don't know! You're definitely familiar though!"

"Hey, Takeshi! What are you doing – oh?" Yamamoto Tsuyoshi appears from the back of the shop and stares meaningfully at the two. "A friend of yours, Takeshi?"

"Elementary mates!" Yamamoto – er, the younger one says, smiling. "I can't seem to remember though! When did you move out, Sawada-san?"

"Sawada-san" sounds so unnatural coming from Yamamoto's mouth that Tsuna automatically replies, "Tsuna." His mouth catches up to him and he hastily adds, "S-since we're elementary classmates, it'd feel weird to be called by my family name like that."

Yamamoto grins. "Tsuna," he repeats, brightening. "You have to drop formalities too, then! My dad and I are both 'Yamamoto' after all! Call me Takeshi."

"O-oh," Tsuna says. "Okay, Ya – er, Takeshi-kun." The word sounds odd on Tsuna's tongue, but it's not. Bad. It makes Tsuna a little less homesick.

Yamamoto smiles and nods, satisfied. "Mn mn! So, Tsuna, wanna have a seat? I can guarantee my old man's sushi is the best in town! Unless you're only here to connect with elementary alumni."

Tsuna can hear the teasing tone and he relaxes just a bit. "Ah, no, I was just so hungry I kind of… wandered in? Sushi would be great."

"Okay!" Yamamoto agrees. "I might get you a discount – as elementary buds of course!" He turns to his dad, who looks back at the two, amused. "Is that alright with you, Pops?"

The senior Yamamoto smiles. "You know what? Tsunayoshi-kun can eat tonight for free. Full discount."

"Yes!" Yamamoto cheers, and Tsuna perks up. Maybe he won't be homeless for the night!

"T-thank you so much, Yamamoto-san!" Tsuna thanks profusely, bowing deeply at the older man.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi simply smiles at him, leaning in to say, "No, thank you, Tsunayoshi-kun. It's been a while since I've seen Takeshi smile like that." Backing away from the stunned Tsuna, he announces more loudly, "Get the best stock out, Takeshi! We've gotta treat this friend of yours!"

Yamamoto, pleasantly confused at his father and his new (old?) friend's exchange, simply nods exuberantly. "Of course! Have a seat, Tsuna! We'll get whatever you want. It's on the house so don't be shy!"

"Y-yeah!" Tsuna agrees, but as he watches the two Yamamotos walk away, he can't get Yamamoto's father's words out of his mind.

_"It's been a while since I've seen Takeshi smile like that."_

Tsuna frowns.

* * *

"That reminds me," Yamamoto says, wiping down one of the tables. "You never told me when you moved away, Tsuna."

"E-eh?" Tsuna nearly slides across the surface of his own table, catching his balance before he fell over. (He'd ended up talking with the two Yamamotos long until closing – and then immediately insisted that he work for his meal.) "Er, moved… away?"

Yamamoto nods. "Yeah! Since I don't remember seeing you in middle school, and I haven't seen you around in our high school, I was wondering when you moved away! Unless you transferred schools?"

Tsuna freezes. He doesn't actually know the fate of this world's Tsuna. If it is a different world at all.

"Er," he says, racking his brain for an answer. "When I was… seven?" It seems like a good enough reply. He himself had been whisked between times and ten years back he would have been seven. Yeah.

"Hmm," Yamamoto says, thoughtful. "I feel like I should still remember you though – it's not like Namimori is a big town."

"It's fine!" Tsuna insists, worried that maybe the him of this world _didn't_ actually go to Namimori Elementary. Or even lived here at all. "I was – er, am, pretty no-good. It's no surprise if you don't remember me! I'm not very memorable."

Not in the good way, anyways. Admittedly, the "No-Good" label only came in after second grade, but still.

Yamamoto continues thinking. "No-good? No good… ah!" He slams his hands down on the table and Tsuna jumps.

"E-eh? W-what?" he squeaks, startled.

"Useless Tsuna!" Yamamoto blurts out, and then immediately closes his mouth, flushing. "Er, no, sorry! I mean—"

It's not the most attractive of nicknames but Tsuna smiles, having to come to accept it as more of a. Worldly truth of sorts by this point. "It's okay; it's true after all. I'm still kind of. Well." Tsuna coughs. "And that was my nickname. Is my nickname, aha."

Yamamoto giggles (?) a bit. "I think just 'Tsuna' fits you better though," he says loyally, and Tsuna feels his heart swell.

"Thanks," he replies, and he means it.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi however, frowns, thinking. "Sawada… Sawada..," he repeats, and Tsuna turns to look at the older man. Catching his gaze, Yamamoto Sr. Smiles. "Ah, no, sorry. I was just thinking that your name sounds familiar to me too."

"Er, does it…?" The older Yamamoto recognizing his name might be bad – he doesn't know what this world him is doing – or not doing, as it is – at the moment and Yamamoto Tsuyoshi is old enough to remember Tsuna without memory lapses like his son. Tsuna sweats.

"Yeah," the elder Yamamoto continues thoughtfully, wiping the counter down. "There was some commotion in the community some ten years ago, I think... Your mom, she's Sawada Nana, right? And Iemit... su…." Yamamoto Tsuyoshi frowns, head snapping up to look at Tsuna in a new light.

Tsuna tries not to back away at the motion.

"You're the kid who went missing ten years back," Yamamoto Tsuyoshi breathes, looking astonished. "It was all over the news – people thought there were possible kidnappers in the area."

"M-missing?" His younger self went missing? Ten years ago… would be the time when he was in the past! Did his younger self not reappear after he… left?

His intuition prods his head in a definite "yes" and Tsuna blanches.

The younger Yamamoto makes a curious sound. "I think I remember that! You had to walk me home every day for a month!" he says, and turns to Tsuna as well, brows furrowed. "Tsuna… are you…?"

"Have you talked to your parents recently, Tsunayoshi-kun?" the elder Yamamoto asks him and Tsuna feels any good feelings, along with his mouth, dry up.

Byakuran was surprised that he was alive.

This world's Sawada Tsunayoshi is missing.

And Tsuna took his place.

The rag falling from his nerveless fingers, Tsuna stutters out a, "I-I have to go –" and starts backing away from the concerned Yamamotos.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, calm down. If you don't want us to call your parents, it's fine," Yamamoto the elder tells him, approaching him as if he is a wild animal. "But I need you to stay here, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Tsuna," Yamamoto the younger says, concerned, and Tsuna can't take it anymore.

He turns and legs it.

* * *

Sawada Tsunayoshi disappeared from this world ten years ago.

And Tsuna replaced him.

It sounds like a bad joke. A plot of some sci-fi American movie.

(Tsuna's mind flashes uncomfortably with the image of sunglasses and a trench coat. _I'll be back_. Except not.)

But that doesn't make sense! If he'd been hit by a Ten-Year-Bazooka, he should have switched places with himself. He'd even travelled back to his time in the proper five-minute time span (though admittedly into a skewed kind of universe).

So then if his younger self hadn't appeared back in the past… what did that mean?

The scenario reminds Tsuna of the time Reborn disappeared the first time they'd travelled to the future and— and maybe Shouichi had been to blame for Reborn not reappearing in five minutes, but Gokudera had turned really pale the first time he'd considered the reasons why someone wouldn't switch with their future self.

Reborn had been dead in that future world.

… What does that mean for Tsuna, then?

Tsuna doesn't want to consider it. He'd worry about this later. Later. When he isn't running away from. From something. Tsuna has the uncomfortable feeling that he's not really running away from the Yamamotos anymore.

Reborn isn't here to keep Tsuna's head on straight.

Tsuna sighs, homesick.

Tsuna makes it maybe three blocks before he's accosted. Though not by either of the Yamamotos or the police.

The sun has set by this time, and really, Tsuna should have known better than to wander around town looking so lost. It doesn't take long until Tsuna bumps into someone large and ugly, and he wrinkles his nose at the smell of sweat. "Oh, um, sorry – ah."

A burly man Tsuna vaguely recognizes as part of the local Momokyokai gang grins down at him. Threateningly. Or something.

"Hey, kid," the man says, and Tsuna grimaces. "That's a nice suit you have there – perhaps you have some other nice things to share with us?"

If that's not the most cliché line Tsuna has heard, he'd eat his ring. His suit is not actually that expensive. It was his day off today – meaning no meetings to go to or look nice for. It's the cheap, comfy one he bought at the department store with Kyoko and the others.

"I don't have much…?" Tsuna squeaks out, still a wimp at heart. No amount of Reborn's training has gotten rid of his easily-bullied kind of aura and Tsuna doubts it will, honestly. "I'm kind of, um, in a hurry, so if you'll excuse me –"

Tsuna takes no chances. Instincts honed from years of bullying (mostly from Reborn), he takes off into a dead sprint.

He makes it maybe a minute before he's roughly grabbed and pulled somewhere by his arm. It's a store, and the traditional style sliding door shuts behind Tsuna like a death rattle. Well, 6000 yen, it was a good ride. Nice knowing you.

"To think I'd find someone like you as I was heading out for my daily walk. The world truly is strange."

Who goes out for a walk at this time of night? Tsuna blinks and examines his attacker. Who isn't one at all. "Kawahira-ojisan?"

Kawahira stares back at Tsuna, looking rather bemused. "Yes, that would be me. And you are?"

Rambunctious yells thunder down the street outside and Tsuna holds his breath, making sure the yakuza have passed on by before answering the man still holding him against the store entrance. "S-Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna answers at length, uncertain what to make of a parallel world Checkerface. Er, this was still that Checkerface, right?

Kawahira stays silent for a long moment, eyes looking like they are x-raying Tsuna. Maybe he is, Tsuna thinks. He doesn't actually know much about the man other than his Arcobaleno gathering gig.

"You have amazingly pure Sky Flames," Kawahira announces, and Tsuna stiffens. The man raises an eyebrow. "And maybe you even know how to use them? Perhaps you're the odd flash of flame I felt today. Or ten years ago."

Kawahira – no, Checkerface – leans in far past Tsuna's comfort range (not that the man hadn't been already), and his eyes. Tsuna can swear they're _glowing_.

Tsuna swallows nervously. This sounds like a conversation he needs more information for. Reborn for. "I-I, um," Tsuna stutters out, eyes crossing as he attempts to focus on Checkerface's extremely close visage. "I don't –"

Very suddenly, Kawahira steps back out of Tsuna's personal bubble, face smoothing over as if he hadn't been about to eat Tsuna alive or something. He smiles mildly at Tsuna and says, "Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun, hmm? Any relation to Sawada Iemitsu, perhaps?" Kawahira doesn't give Tsuna the opportunity to answer, plowing on through by himself with a, "I'll keep an eye on you."

Tsuna shivers.

"Yes," Kawahira says, the ghost of a checkered-pattern shadows over his face. "You'll do nicely." The shadow passes, and, in a case of severe mood whiplash, Kawahira smiles cheerily at Tsuna. "Please feel free to spend the night, Tsunayoshi-kun. The nights aren't safe with the Yakuza around. Would you like some tea? I just splurged recently on some really nice green tea leaves."

The man twirls around and disappears into the back room of his shop, leaving a hyperventilating Tsuna clutching at the wall.

Tsuna belatedly blubbers out a faint, "I-I'm good. Thank you."

He doesn't want to take the man up on the offer. Either one.

Kawahira takes the decision out of Tsuna's hands, however, coming back with a teapot and two mugs. "It's really good, you know. Here. It'll calm you down."

Tsuna grasps the warm ceramic on instinct. The tea smells good.

Kawahira raises his eyebrows at him. "You're not much like your dad, are you?"

"I'm not," Tsuna replies automatically. Then, "Wait, you know my father?"

This shouldn't be surprising, Tsuna thinks, belatedly. The man knew about a lot of things. Well. Everything. The incident with Zakuro of the Six Funeral Wreaths comes to mind.

Kawahira hums, taking a slow sip of his tea. "So. Sawada Iemitsu is your father, huh." He contemplates this for a long moment, making Tsuna squirm. "Sawada Tsunayoshi… You're the one who disappeared off the face of the planet ten years back." Kawahira angles his face so that the light reflects off his spectacles and Tsuna finds himself trying to read eyebrows. "Hmm."

Eyebrows don't say much. "Um," Tsuna tries. "W-what do you mean by 'disappeared'? What happened to… me?"

Kawahira makes more eyebrows at him. "I don't know," he replies, frowning.

He doesn't offer anything more.

"Oh." Something that even _that __Checkerface_ did not know.

Tsuna curls up around his tea. He wants to go home.

* * *

An early chapter 'cause I got too excited. Hopefully this will help as a judge of character for where this story is heading.

Also I apologize about Checkerface? God he turned out ten times creepier than I meant him to. Please excuse him.


	3. Third Step

A lot less Tsuna and a lot more background this chapter.

* * *

The half Vongola rings glow.

Xanxus watches the reaction with the most attention he's given the ring in the past three years, and frowns. Half of the Vongola rings aren't worth _shit_ – until the two halves join together, you can't summon flames or use them at all – or so the creepy brat says. The half Vongola ring is a trinket of Xanxus' status more than anything else.

(Xanxus doesn't like the kid, but there's no doubting the brat's power. As loathe as he is to admit it, information on the Vongola rings is scarce to the point where any is suspect. Better to keep the kid close at hand than to let that kind of information into someone else's hands.)

But now. Now they're fucking shining.

The Sky Vongola ring pulses hotly in Xanxus' palm in a steady beat, as though it's resonating. With what? The other half? Considering Xanxus hadn't even been wearing the damn thing when it started up, it can only mean the ring is responding to whatever is happening on the other side.

Xanxus' hand curls around the half ring until it starts cutting into his skin.

He's _known_ – known that the ring won't accept him, not being of Vongola blood, as it is, but to think it'll accept some other bastard is unacceptable.

They can't prolong this cold war for much longer.

Xanxus will _crush that fucker Iemitsu_.

_He_ is Decimo. Like hell if he'd give it up because of something stupid like a ring.

* * *

Basil streaks through the base as if on fire.

"Master!" Basil almost skids past the door in his haste, and Iemitsu looks up from his paperwork, glad for the distraction.

"Basilicum, what's wrong?" Iemitsu asks, gaze sharpening. It must be something urgent for the boy to panic like this.

"The Vongola rings, Master!" Basil says, eyes wide. "They're glowing!"

Iemitsu is halfway around his desk before he realizes he's moved at all. "The rings?" he asks. "They're _what_?"

The half Vongola rings? They should be dormant in their halved state – any kind of reaction was… well, either a problem or a blessing depending on the situation.

Iemitsu vaguely recounts what Shige's schedule is and decides it's a problem.

"Glowing, sir," Basil repeats, catching his breath. "They started shining a moment ago, but they stopped soon after. Master, could this mean Xanxus –"

And that's the problem. Iemitsu keeps the half Vongola rings under their best security for a reason. He cannot have the succession going to Xanxus. Even if the rest of the Families acknowledged the Varia leader as Decimo, it meant nothing to the Vongola until the rings accepted him. And they will not.

They can't.

Iemitsu grimaces. He can't let Xanxus assume the Vongola throne – Timoteo would roll in his grave.

"The Vongola rings can't do anything in their halved state, Basil," Iemitsu reassures, even as he picks up his phone to dial Lal Mirch's number.

"Lal Mirch here," a curt voice answers, and Iemitsu relaxes, noting nothing odd about the tone.

"Lal, any word on the Varia? Has anything happened recently?" Iemitsu asks.

The line is silent for a long moment before Lal answers, "No. Did something happen, Iemitsu?"

Iemitsu takes a deep breath. "The half Vongola rings – there was a reaction not too long ago. I haven't seen them myself yet, but keep an eye out, will you?"

"… Of course." The line cuts off.

Iemitsu sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He's too young to be graying like this. "Come on Basil. Let's go check on the rings ourselves."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

The Ten Year Paradox

Third Step: Meeting

* * *

Tsuna does, incidentally stay the night over, propped up against a corner of the inner room of Kawahira's Home Realtor office with a blanket. The lure of free lodging wins out against facing more Momokyokai yakuza in the end, and Tsuna doesn't feel anymore apprehensive about it than he feels like he should, so it probably means his intuition isn't against it. Probably.

It's not until he's outside the store (Kawahira mysteriously gone) that Tsuna starts feeling uneasy.

His hyper intuition thrums at the back of his mind, keeping him on edge. Sometimes Tsuna wishes his intuition were more concrete. A "bad feeling" ranges anywhere from "Lambo's pulled out a real grenade" to "there's a gun pointed at his head," which hardly gives Tsuna any indication of what's wrong as much as telling him to dodge one way or the other.

Alarms suddenly ring in Tsuna's head and he whips around, looking for danger.

"I found you, herbivore." Hibari approaches, dramatic wind sending the ends of his prefect's jacket fluttering.

Even a civilian Hibari's killer intent is nothing to laugh at. A shiver runs up Tsuna's spine. "H-Hibari-san..," he greets, a nervous smile frozen in place. "How are you today…?"

Hibari ignores Tsuna's pathetic stutters, tonfa coming up instead like a painful promise. "Sawada Tsunayoshi," the boy says. "You disappeared from Namimori ten years ago."

Tsuna grimaces.

"You will tell me why and how you have returned," Hibari adds. "Or else I will bite you to death."

Tsuna hardly thinks Hibari will take an "I don't know" for an answer. "Uhm," he starts, leaning away, but not stepping back – he's long since learned that Hibari acts on movement. Like some kind of human shaped nocturnal hunter. "I'm sorry?" Tsuna tries, hands coming up in a useless gesture of peace. "I didn't know I was missing. Please forgive me?"

Hibari doesn't stop his approach, eyes glinting dangerously. "You have been missing for ten years. Your stupid herbivorous father brought other herbivores in and disturbed Namimori. I will bite you to death."

And Tsuna is supposed to be his dad's proxy or something?

Tsuna decides maybe a tactical retreat is in order. "Ah, no, uh, I'm really sorry about my dad, Hibari-san," he apologizes. Sincerely. "I know he can be overbearing –"

Tsuna shrieks as the first tonfa crashes down where his head used to be a moment before. Hibari grunts, surprised at the dodge, and tries again. Tsuna twists out of the way, still screaming. "W-wait! Hibari-san!"

Hibari turns with his swing, already adjusting to the idea that Tsuna can dodge, and the next tonfa whips around at a speed too fast for Tsuna to avoid without his flames. Checkerface's visage flashes through Tsuna's mind, and he grimaces, bracing instead to eat dirt.

"Tsuna!"

A loud, metallic clang vibrates through the air, and Tsuna hesitantly squints his eyes open. "Eh?" Tsuna blinks, stupefied, as he stares at the flat side of Shigure Kintoki. A hand takes Tsuna by his arm and twirls him around until he's staring stupidly at Yamamoto's back, and. "Y-Yamamoto…?" Tsuna asks, uncertain. What is the boy doing here? Isn't he a civilian in this world? Nothing to do with mafia, right?

"Takeshi," Yamamoto replies. "Call me Takeshi, Tsuna." The boy turns slightly to smile at him, and Tsuna feels some of his tension bleed out. What a reliable guy, Yamamoto. No, wait, this wasn't the time for that!

"Ya – er – Takeshi-kun! What are you doing here?" Tsuna asks in the same moment Hibari spits out, "_Move_, herbivore."

Yamamoto laughs. "Actually, I was looking for you, Tsuna." He doesn't turn around to face him (turning one's back to Hibari, unless to run, was never a good idea) but Yamamoto's eyes flick back to look at Tsuna. "After yesterday, Pops and I were worried, you know? It's a good thing I found you though! Haha."

Tsuna swallows loudly. "Oh," he frowns, guilty. "I – I'm sorry about… that. I just didn't know what to – er."

"It's fine," Yamamoto reassures. "We can talk later, I think?" He focuses his attention back on the impatient Hibari in front of them and smiles nervously. "Hibari-san, you wouldn't happen to mind letting us go, would you…? I'm not sure what you're mad about, but Tsuna's a good guy! I promise!"

"No," Hibari says, and rushes forward.

* * *

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

Yamamoto Sr. smiles at them as he patches up their scrapes. Escaping Hibari quickly turned into a "flee for their lives" and then a "play dead so he can drag Yamamoto's body back to Takesushi" kind of deal, and Tsuna thinks they survived rather well considering the situation.

Guiltily, Tsuna tries to not think about how many more injuries Yamamoto has sustained than him.

"He got us pretty bad, huh?" Yamamo – no, Takeshi (calling Yamamoto "Takeshi" makes it easier on Tsuna to differentiate between this Yamamoto and his world's Yamamoto, and he needs some of that distinction before he gets too comfortable here) laughs sheepishly, and Tsuna can't help but snicker back.

"That might be putting it too lightly," Tsuna laughs, prodding Takeshi to get better access to a scrape on the boy's side. He winces at the purple already blooming over the skin. "That's going to bruise really bad..."

"Aha, yeah – Hibari-san's really tough," Takeshi agrees, grunting when Tsuna starts rubbing ointment over the area. "You've never been 'bitten to death' by Hibari-san before, right? I think he really started his reign of terror during middle school."

Tsuna freezes, and then rubs the back of his head guiltily. "Well, actually…." Should he tell them? It wasn't as though him possibly being from some parallel world was something he needed to keep a secret from anyone – it just made him look like an absolute loon. Right. "I know the feeling," Tsuna says instead. "I'm kind of." He points to his twig arms and grimaces. "So I. I'm used to it?"

God, that came out more pathetic than he meant it to.

Takeshi frowns, but doesn't say anything.

The elder Yamamoto slaps the last bandage on Tsuna's back and closes the first aid kit. "And that's that. How do you two feel?"

Takeshi and Tsuna turn baleful eyes on the older man, and Yamamoto Sr. laughs.

"Okay, okay. Go on, you two. It's almost lunchtime and the shop is probably going to get really busy. I've set something up on the counter, so don't forget to eat!" and the older Yamamoto walks off to the front of the restaurant.

Neither of the Yamamotos say a word about Tsuna and his reaction from last night, and Tsuna sighs, relieved. Later. He'd tell them everything later.

"Hey, Tsuna, let's go eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" Takeshi grins. He grabs a hold of one of Tsuna's less injured arms, and Tsuna grins back.

"Yeah."

* * *

Iemitsu barely keeps the report from slipping through nerveless fingers.

"They _what_?" he asks, voice breaking. Deep breaths. Keep it together, Iemitsu. The Vongola needs him, especially in this critical moment, but oh god they _what_?

"Someone in Namimori reported finding Sawada Tsunayoshi a few hours ago, Master," Oregano repeats, voice soft. "A civilian. Apparently, Tsunayoshi came into their restaurant during dinner hours, though once he and his son identified him as missing, the boy fled. There are no reports of Tsunayoshi afterwards."

Iemitsu is glad he's already sitting. He lets the papers he'd been clutching scatter onto his desk as he holds his head in his hands. They – they found… Tsuna? After all these years – but no, the timing. It's too convenient.

Oregano seems to think so too, her expression just slightly pitying. "Master," she starts softly. "If I may say so, the timing of this finding is suspect. The Varia isn't beneath using such underhanded tactics. Until a more concrete report comes in – even _if_ another report comes in – I wouldn't suggest –"

"I," Iemitsu cuts in, unwilling to listen to Oregano's perfectly logical reasoning, damn it. "I was too late the last time. To save Tsuna." His voice wavers. "I got the news too late, and by the time I'd arrived in Namimori, the only thing I could do was listen to the forensic reports about the samples of _my son's blood_ –" Iemitsu stops himself. Deep breaths.

Deep breaths.

He can't afford to crack here. Not yet.

There's only one thing to do by this point. "Oregano, I never left my office. I'm still in Italy, dealing with paperwork and this new issue with the Varia," Iemitsu says. "Of course, I can't let such reports of my missing son being found left alone, so I sent a low ranking subordinate to go investigate in my stead. And if," his voice hardens, pitch dropping, "and if these reports happen to be falsehoods spread by the Varia – surely they cannot fault me for sending out hit orders for the ones responsible."

Oregano frowns. "Master, I'd advise against this – if it _is_ the Varia –"

"Then I'll go after them myself," Iemitsu finishes. "Please take care of everything here for me. I'll be back in a day or two at max."

Oregano sighs, defeated, and suggests, "At least take someone with you. For such a sensitive mission it would not be odd for Basilicum to accompany someone to Namimori."

Iemitsu smiles gratefully at his subordinate. "Of course. Thank you, Oregano."

* * *

"Uhm, Yamamoto-san?" Tsuna approaches the elder Yamamoto, hesitantly, "What do you know about… about my family?"

He doesn't want to bring the situation about his missing self up again, but it seemed like the elder Yamamoto knew something of what happened to the Sawada family of this world.

Tsuna tries not to fret too much about them, but his mom wasn't home and it. It really worried him.

"Your family?" Yamamoto Sr. asks, hand pausing halfway to grabbing a knife. The man stares at Tsuna critically, eyeballing him. Probably to gauge Tsuna's mental status.

Tsuna grimaces, regretting running away the other night.

The elder Yamamoto looks away for a moment, eyes distant, before starting to cut into the fish sitting in front of him. "Your parents," the man starts, attention still on his work. "Moved away some eight to nine years ago. I don't know where they went," he says before Tsuna can get his hopes up. "But they moved without a word to anyone; no contact info or anything. Even the neighborhood ladies were at a loss for gossip material," Yamamoto Sr. adds with a huff.

Tsuna stays silent, absorbing the information. So his dad must have learned about the Mafiosi and taken his mom somewhere. An extended vacation to the Bahamas forever or something.

Civilian Yamamoto, the Hibari who only has to protect Namimori, his mom who gets to spend as much time as she wants with his dad. Tsuna wonders if maybe this is the better world for everyone. The world without him. His shoulders droop.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, Tsunayoshi-kun," the elder Yamamoto says. "But your dad – I've heard things about him working with the other side of the law. These are just rumors, but…" The man looks Tsuna straight in the eye. "If you're ever in any sort of trouble, let me or Takeshi know, alright? We might not look it, but we'll keep you safe. I promise."

Tsuna, Vongola Decimo, laughs awkwardly and reassures the man he will.

Not.

* * *

These days, Byakuran finds that looking into other worlds takes way too much energy.

He had to take a day late flight into Japan to give himself time to recover, but really this kind of timing was amazing.

"Oya?" Byakuran smiles, staring down the barrel end of Sawada Iemitsu's handgun. Byakuran vaguely remembers that in the other worlds, the CEDEF leader fights with a pickaxe. And keeps a regular firearm on hand. What an old-fashioned guy.

Basilicum, the often CEDEF succeeding leader in many worlds, doesn't bother to hide his weapon either. Honest, isn't he.

"Byakuran Gesso," Sawada Iemitsu says in lieu of greeting. "What are you doing in Japan?"

"Sawada Iemitsu," Byakuran singsongs back. His grin widens, knowing he's annoying the older man. "I can ask the same of you. I happen to be here to visit a friend." Which is entirely true. He just happens to be visiting Tsunayoshi as well. "Namimori isn't such a big town – a little suspicious that you're here, isn't it?"

To his credit, the man doesn't even as so much flinch. "I happen to be here on personal matters."

Personal, huh? Byakuran's smile slips. So other people already know about Tsunayoshi. He's seen from other worlds how much of a trouble magnet the boy is, but to experience it himself – Byakuran giggles. This Sawada Tsunayoshi really is something. He definitely needs to meet him now.

"I see, I see!" Byakuran waves the man off, smile back in full force. "I'll let you get to that then. If you'll excuse me."

Sawada Iemitsu lets Byakuran go without a word.

* * *

"Shou-chan! I need you to research Sawada Iemitsu for me!" Byakuran singsongs as he bursts into Irie Shouichi's cramped bedroom first thing. One of these days he'd get the boy to accept his offer to move into a nice condo in Italy with him. Finishing high school! What a waste of his talents.

Shouichi shrieks, arms flailing as he falls backwards off his chair. Byakuran watches the boy's reaction with amused affection. Shouichi is always so entertaining.

"B-Byakuran-san!" Shouichi says at last, picking himself off the floor. "I thought your flight was supposed to arrive last night!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Byakuran laughs. "My flight got delayed a bit. How are you doing, Shou-chan?"

"Good, good," the boy sighs. "No, not you, Spanner – sorry." Shouichi fumbles as he tries to carry two conversations at the same time, eventually muting his headset with an "I'll talk to you later," and turns to Byakuran, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, Byakuran-san, what were you saying before? I was… distracted."

By Byakuran. "It's fine~ I just said I wanted you to research Sawada Iemitsu for me. The Vongola CEDEF leader. Also! Do you have a lock on that interesting ring signal from the other day?"

Shouichi splutters and coughs. "Wait, you want me to _what_? Vongola – they'd kill me if I tried!"

Byakuran waves an unconcerned hand. "Shou-chan, you really underestimate yourself! Besides, if they try anything, I'll just blow them away!" World conqueror he might not be in this world, but Byakuran is plenty sure he can beat anyone around here. Except for Tsunayoshi.

"That's not really what I – never mind." Shouichi sighs. He takes a moment to ruffle his hair and readjust his glasses before snapping into work-Shouichi mode. "As for that ring signal... It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. I haven't been able to catch it again, Byakuran-san. They must have used a Mammon chain or something." The boy's gaze sharpens as he stares Byakuran down. "The only thing I can say for certain is that it was an extremely strong ring. An A class at the very least. I would even say over A class, but…." Shouichi waves a hand, a chained Mare ring reflecting off the bright computer screen's glare. "Are you certain it wasn't the Arco–"

"Ah, no, no," Byakuran reassures, hand reaching out to muss Shouichi's hair. "I know who the signal belonged to. He's a visiting friend!" A thought occurs to him. "Say, Shou-chan, have you been outside recently? Have you seen a fluffy-haired kid around town? He's kind of short and weak looking."

Shouichi swats at Byakuran's hand fruitlessly, probably annoyed at the insinuation he's becoming some kind of shut in. Though judging by the bags under his eyes, he is. "I _have_ gone outside – just this morning even! I haven't seen anyone like that around though." Shouichi frowns. "Weak looking? Are you sure that's the source of the ring signal?"

"I'm sure," Byakuran says, breezily flapping an unconcerned hand. "Tsunayoshi-kun is the surprisingly strong kind. So," he smiles at Shouichi, who starts backing away, super serious work-Shouichi mode flying into the wind. "Sawada Iemitsu. Think you can do it, Shou-chan? He's kind of in town and I need to know about him before going to go find Tsunayoshi-kun!"

"The Vongola's leader is _what_?!" Shouichi screeches.

Byakuran laughs.

* * *

Iemitsu has the advantage of contacts – contacts everywhere. He didn't leave Namimori ten years back without leaving some threads of info – an in-case measure for if any information regarding Tsuna and his disappearance came up.

He'd never expected to hear that they'd found Tsuna himself.

The person to report Tsuna's reappearance was Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. A civilian with past Mafia contacts due to the nature of the sword style he had learned. Slightly suspicious, but not so much that Iemitsu is worried.

What he _is_ on edge about is the appearance of Byakuran of the Gesso Family.

As far as Iemitsu – and anyone else for that matter – is aware of, the Gesso Family is one of the few mafia Families not involved in the Vongola civil war. Or rather one of the few who aim to do nothing with it at all.

So then what is the up and coming boss of the Family doing here in Namimori?

A friend, the boy had said, but a 'friend' could be anything from an actual contact to the rumored reappeared Sawada Tsunayoshi. But what would the Gesso boss know anything about that?

Rumors of Varia activity is suspiciously absent in Namimori.

Iemitsu doesn't allow himself to hope that Tsuna is alive. He can't deal with that kind of disappointment – especially not now. The mafia world is ready to snap, the tension from the Vongola civil war between the Varia and CEDEF at a max pulling at every underground Family, Vongola contact or not.

As leader of the CEDEF, Iemitsu has to be ready to fight, whether it be sometime within the next few days or the next few years. He can't relax until Vongola is reunited, Undicesimo at its head.

(The fact that Sawada Iemitsu is in Japan, chasing rumors of his missing/presumed dead son, is proof enough of how hopeful he is. Iemitsu crushes the thought down.)

* * *

When Sawada Iemitsu walks into Takesushi, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi's first instinct is to hide the boys.

Instead, he's working the front counter so he says, "Welcome to Takesushi!" and tries to direct Iemitsu into a chair far from the back entrance.

The man declines, holding up a hand. "Ah, sorry. Actually I wanted to talk to a Yamamoto Tsuyoshi?" Iemitsu says, eyeing Tsuyoshi knowingly. "I had a few questions for him."

Tsuyoshi smiles. "Ah that would be me. Give me a moment then," he says and heads into the kitchen.

Finding the boys, Tsuyoshi warns them, "Don't come into the restaurant; especially you, Tsunayoshi-kun." He hesitates and then adds, "Your father is here."

Tsuyoshi watches carefully as Tsunayoshi freezes up and stares at him with a deer in the headlights kind of look. Tsuyoshi spares a moment to berate himself for going straight to the police about Tsunayoshi before reassuring, "I won't tell him that you're here if you don't want me to, Tsunayoshi-kun, but I'd gone to the police yesterday – I was worried because you'd run so fast out of the store. Well anyways, what's done is done." He gives the boy a sharp look. "What would you like me to do, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

The boy is old enough to make his own decisions, Tsuyoshi decides. He is determined to face down the man out in front (whom he knows –_knows_ – is a mafia member) if Tsunayoshi felt uncomfortable with meeting his father. This boy draws out the most smiles from Takeshi since the boy was in middle school – Tsuyoshi owes him at least that much.

"I-I, uhm," Tsunayoshi stutters. He looks so frightened that Tsuyoshi makes up his mind to send that Sawada Iemitsu flying out the door with his sword if need be, but then Tsunayoshi continues with, "I-I think I'd like to meet him…? I need to talk to him."

The boy looks terrified at his own words.

Tsuyoshi frowns, wondering what Sawada Iemitsu could have done to make this boy so frightened, and he lays a hand down on Tsunayoshi's shoulder. "I can ask him to come again later, Tsunayoshi-kun." Or never, Tsuyoshi adds in his mind.

Looking sheepish, Tsunayoshi nods. "Can you…? I. I think I need to get my thoughts in order first. Please let… my dad know that."

Tsuyoshi smiles. "Of course."

* * *

Tsuyoshi walks into the store, determined.

Iemitsu frowns at him, probably irritated at the long time Tsuyoshi took talking to the boys, but Tsuyoshi frowns right back, thoughts about Tsunayoshi's reaction in his head. Perhaps… perhaps the boy hadn't gone missing at all but rather ran away from home. Tsunayoshi had freely admitted to bully problems, and that coupled with abusive parents – well, running away wouldn't be very odd at all.

Tsuyoshi's face turns severe at the thought. He could not let Tsunayoshi go with that kind of parent. "Perhaps we can speak outside?" Tsuyoshi beckons, knowing their – ah – discussion will not be so quiet. "So, may I know who I'm talking to?"

Iemitsu nods following Tsuyoshi out towards the side of the restaurant. "I am Sawada Iemitsu. I heard from the police that you had located my son?"

"Perhaps," Tsuyoshi hums. "Can you tell me the name…?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Iemitsu replies, eyes narrowing. "You are Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, yes? The one who made the police report yesterday?"

"Yes I am," Tsuyoshi confirms.

"So," Iemitsu says. "May I ask where he is?"

Loftily, Tsuyoshi waves a hand. "Unfortunately, when I broached the subject with Tsunayoshi-kun, he left. Apparently he didn't want to be recognized as the missing Tsunayoshi." He goes in for the kill. "He seemed rather… frightened. I wonder why that is?"

Iemitsu stiffens. "I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here, but understand that I am only looking for my _son_. He's been _missing for ten years_," the man emphasizes, probably hoping for an empathetic response.

Tsuyoshi glares. "What I'm saying is that while I don't know you, Sawada-san, as a person, I do know that Tsunayoshi-kun doesn't want to meet you. I don't know what you've done to that boy, but know this:" Tsuyoshi leans in, vaguely threatening. "If you try anything, _anything_at all to force that boy into something, I will come after you personally. Please leave this establishment and have a good day."

Tsuyoshi whirls around and marches back into the store, leaving a gossiping crowd and a stunned Iemitsu behind.

He finds Takeshi and Tsunayoshi huddled guiltily with their ears to the wall, and he smiles at them. "Don't worry; he won't be coming back any time soon. Tsunayoshi-kun, you should stay indoors for the time being, alright?"

Tsunayoshi nods, looking an odd mix of grateful and guilty. "Alright. Thank you, Yamamoto-san."

Tsuyoshi gives into the impulse to ruffle the boy's hair and smiles. "Of course, Tsunayoshi-kun."

* * *

Sawada Iemitsu stands there, stunned – at the implications that _he did something to Tsuna_ and _Tsuna is afraid of him_. Basil pats Iemitsu on the back, hesitantly.

He'd comb the town for his son if he had to.

Iemitsu doesn't know who is playing cruel games like this or what has happened to Tsuna in ten years, but he means to find out.

His heart cannot afford not to at this point.

* * *

Tsuna feels a shiver run down his spine and wonders if it's a spectral Reborn who knows what a cowardly thing he's just done.

He'll fix it later, he swears!

* * *

Alternative title: Misunderstandings galore. Happy Holidays.


	4. Fourth Step

We finally get to our plot proper! Or at least mention it somewhat. All Italian is copied straight from the manga.

* * *

Tsuna dreams.

He stands under a sky on a plane of mirrors. If it isn't for the echoing steps under his feet, he would have thought he is flying.

"_E'la nostra ora incisa sull'anello."_

"_Our hours engraved into the Rings."_

The words sound from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The two voices overlap, and Tsuna almost misses the words.

Hours. Time? Ring?

"_To perish or flourish, it is up to you now, Vongola Decimo."_

The words are spoken like someone's title. Vongola Decimo. It sounds incredibly important, though Tsuna doesn't understand it. A foreign language?

"I have been waiting for you."

This time the voice doesn't echo or sound from all around Tsuna. The warm tone comes from behind.

Oddly unafraid, he turns around. A man with hair like his stands before him, flames erupting from his forehead. His eyes are warm.

"Who are you?" Tsuna asks. The man feels familiar somehow, though he's never seen him in his life.

The man doesn't answer him. Instead he leans down, kneeling to stand at eye level with Tsuna. An odd, gloved hand reaches out of the man's cloak to lay on top of Tsuna's head. "You are my chosen successor. Know this," the man says firmly. "As Decimo I will choose no other. Though my influence outside this world is limited, I will protect you as I can."

These aren't the kind of promises Iemitsu leaves with them in his increasingly less frequent visits.

The warmth Tsuna feels in the man's eyes, the whole expanse of this sky-plane, blooms in Tsuna's chest. Tsuna thinks of the grandpa who had visited him a few years back, with a similar warm feeling and a pretty blue ring with foreign words engraved in it against an intricate crest.

"Okay," Tsuna agrees. He doesn't know what exactly he's agreeing to, but the man seems to understand. He nods, eyes closing.

"You will be safe here. Until our next meeting, Decimo."

The world fades.

* * *

Tsuna wakes.

The steady beeps filling the room scare him. The industrial white ceiling is nothing like the one at home.

Everything hurts. His tongue is heavy in his mouth and he's thirsty.

Tsuna doesn't remember anything or why he's here but.

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi," he breathes. He doesn't know what the man with the fire means about successes or foreign languages, but he's Tsuna.

Not a Decimo.

* * *

The Ten Year Paradox

Fourth Step: Realignment

* * *

Their search on Sawada Iemitsu proves so fruitless (well, not actually – there's a lot of dirt to dig up on the man, as there is on any high ranking Mafioso, but it's not the kind of thing Byakuran is looking for; Shouichi had spluttered, then went off on a short temper tantrum when Byakuran had declared his hard work "useless") that Byakuran decides surely finding Tsunayoshi first would be a better use of their time.

"And you're certain that this Tsunayoshi is not hostile?" Shouichi asks Byakuran once more. "Reviewing the data from the ring signal, it really does look like an over A rank. The only reason it'd show up like that is –"

"Yes, yes. You worry too much, Shou-chan. Tsunayoshi-kun is usually really… fluffy. Kind of like a marshmallow." Byakuran pauses. "Why don't you come with me to meet him? I know you can use the extra sunlight, Shou-chan~"

"Oh, stuff it." Shouichi glares, but starts rummaging through his desks in preparation anyways.

Byakuran smiles. "Tsunayoshi-kun is the kind of guy Shou-chan will like. Don't worry."

Shouichi squints at Byakuran over his glasses and packs a whole bottle of antacids for their trip.

* * *

Byakuran and Shouichi collapse onto a park bench, tired.

Well, Shouichi collapses and Byakuran perches himself on the backrest, frowning.

Despite their best attempts, they haven't run into Tsunayoshi at all. Byakuran had thought that surely the boy would have been anticipating their meeting enough to stay visible, but it seemed it wasn't the case. Perhaps Tsunayoshi caught wind of his father's presence in town?

Maybe they just needed a new angle. Byakuran pops a marshmallow into his mouth, thinking. A new… angle. Angle. Angles. Angular – that cloud guy, Hibari Kyoya!

That guy is that crazy obsessed town stalker-kun right? He might know where Tsunayoshi is. "Shou-chan, do you know about a Hibari Kyoya-kun?" Byakuran asks, grin widening as he watches his friend squawk and fumble in between attempting to clean his glasses. "Do you know how we might be able to find him?"

Hibari-hunting turns out to be extraordinarily easy – aggravate someone from either the local high school or middle school and wa la! One Hibari Kyoya. Just like magic.

Byakuran cheerfully drugs the boy – much to Shouichi's ever-increasing terror – and ties him up for interrogation.

* * *

Hibari breaks somewhere around the tenth marshmallow.

* * *

Tsuna hears a very familiar, "Tsunayoshi-kun~" from his hideout in the kitchen, and his face blanches. He'd completely forgotten about Byakuran.

Rushing out to the front, Tsuna feels the rest of his soul slip out of his gaping mouth as he watches Byakuran flouncing through the front door, an Irie Shouichi in one hand, and a slightly roughed up Hibari Kyoya in the other.

He rubs his face. Okay. One thing at a time.

"B-Byakuran," Tsuna greets weakly, accepting Byakuran's proffered marshmallow politely and then gesturing to… the boy's friends. Luggage. "Thanks for coming? I didn't expect you here so soon."

"Of course, of course," Byakuran says, smiles and rainbows. "I came here as fast as I can~ Having a Tsunayoshi-kun in debt to me is always a good thing, after all."

Ah. Of course. "I see…"

"Hey, Tsuna, is he a friend of yours?" Takeshi leans in to ask, giving the irate Hibari a nervous glance, and Tsuna remembers where they are.

"Er, sort of?" Tsuna says, glancing at Byakuran. "This is Byakuran. He's… an associate?"

"How mean, Tsunayoshi-kun, I think we can call ourselves friends now, can't we?" Byakuran pouts, and Tsuna rubs the back of his head.

"I guess…?" After the Representative war they hadn't really had the chance to talk much, but moreover this isn't even his world's Byakuran! Where did this guy get this from?

Byakuran prods at Takeshi, smiling. "So you're Yamamoto Takeshi-kun, right? It's nice to meet you~"

"Ah, same!" Takeshi responds, grinning right back. "Who is that behind you? Er, other than Hibari-san."

Byakuran's grin turns slightly mischievous, and Tsuna feels sorry for the Irie Shouichi of this world. Of any world. "Right, right! Shou-chan, come meet everyone! This is that Tsunayoshi-kun I told you about~" he says, gesturing at Tsuna. "And Yamamoto Takeshi-kun, his Ra – er, friend."

He was about to call Takeshi his Rain Guardian, wasn't he? Tsuna grimaces.

Shouichi smiles a grimace right back. "N-nice to meet you. Byakuran-san told me some about you, Sawada-kun." His gaze says, "and I'm so sorry about him," and Tsuna feels a connection.

Irie Shouichi really is a good guy in every universe.

They decide on dinner first, then talking, and Hibari glowers at them all throughout.

"Er, if I may ask –" Tsuna broaches the subject hesitantly, eyes flickering to Byakuran, but focuses on Hibari, "Why is Hibari-san here…?"

Hibari looks away, surly, and Byakuran answers for him.

"Well, since Hibari-kun was so nice to tell us how to find you, Tsunayoshi-kun, I thought we'd treat him to dinner!" the boy says around a mouthful of tuna, and Tsuna leans away.

"Nice" is perhaps the most contradictory word to describe Hibari. Tsuna honestly doesn't want to know what happened between Byakuran and the prefect.

"Hey, Byakuran-san? How did you know my name?" Takeshi asks.

Tsuna slaps a hand on Byakuran's open mouth. Ew. "I-I mentioned you to him! When I was. Talking about elementary friends."

It's better than "sumo wrestling."

"I see!" Takeshi laughs.

Byakuran licks Tsuna's hand, and Tsuna lets go with an unmanly shriek. "Gyaah! Byakuran!"

"That's Tsunayoshi-kun's fault for using such a _heavy handed_tactic." Byakuran grins, self-satisfied.

Shouichi groans from beside him.

Tsuna does too, but less obviously.

"Hey, Yamamoto-kun, do you mind lending Tsunayoshi-kun and I a room?" Byakuran asks, smiling pleasantly. "I want to talk to him. Alone."

Tsuna grimaces. Mafia Byakuran may be, but does he have to make everything sound so _sinister?_It's awfully unsettling.

Takeshi seems to think so too, swivelling his head back and forth between Tsuna and Byakuran. His eyebrows crease in thought before something seems to click. He stares wide eyed at Tsuna, then Byakuran, and then flushes. "O-oh! Oh. Of course! We have a dojo in the back. I'll go ask Pops if the two of you can use it."

Takeshi shuffles off, fire truck red.

"Is he alright?" Shouichi asks, concerned.

No, probably not, Tsuna thinks, dismayed. It's rather disheartening that this world's Yamamoto is so unnerved by Byakuran's overt mafia-ness, but maybe it's for the best. He sighs deeply, an answer in itself.

Byakuran blinks. Then starts laughing.

* * *

Takeshi, still red in the face, though otherwise unaffected, leads Byakuran and Tsuna to talk in the Asarigumi dojo with a promise of privacy from the others.

He leaves them some hand towels from the restaurant, much to Tsuna's confusion and Byakuran's amusement.

The first words out of Byakuran's mouth are, "It really is true: Tsunayoshi-kun doesn't look very extraordinary at all!"

Unsure if that's supposed to be an insult or a compliment, Tsuna laughs awkwardly. "I-I see?"

"But then again, I suppose it depends on which Tsunayoshi-kun you are," Byakuran adds, and Tsuna blinks.

"Eh?" Which?

Byakuran nods, squinting at Tsuna. "Even if Tsunayoshi-kun says he's from another world, it doesn't say which one he'd come from. There are infinite amounts of parallel worlds and a slightly less infinite amount of worlds where a Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun might be missing under unusual circumstance. It doesn't narrow the search criteria at all, see?"

Most of the words go over Tsuna's head, but he nods anyways. "I… see?" What he does get is, "So… do you need a description of my world to find it or…?"

Byakuran hums. "I wonder. I've never had to search for a specific world like this before."

Tsuna deflates. Does this mean he'd never be able to go back or? All he'd done was get hit by a defective bazooka! Surely it shouldn't have made things so complicated?

"But I do have an idea of how to find your world, Tsunayoshi-kun! Don't look so glum," Byakuran chides. "You have your ring with you, don't you? Your Vongola ring?"

The… Vongola ring? "I do," Tsuna says, holding up his right hand. Reborn had instilled into Tsuna: keep your ring on at all times. Even when you're going to school, even when you shower, even when you sleep! Always. _Always_ have your ring on you. Otherwise Reborn would come after him with his Leon hammer and knock him a good one.

It had been one of _those_ lessons.

"Er, how is this going to help you find my world?" Tsuna asks, somewhat apprehensive. It's become something of an automatic reaction with anything to do with the Vongola rings or Tri-Ni-Sette or anything vaguely Italian sounding came up. Italian usually meant _mafia_ these days, and really.

Byakuran grins. "Well, see, since Tsunayoshi-kun brought the Vongola ring from his world, this world has the odd paradox of having _two_Vongola rings. If we can go get the other Vongola ring, don't you think something interesting would happen?"

"Interesting?" Tsuna gapes. "Byakuran, I don't think that'd really –"

"Also, if Tsunayoshi-kun is missing from his world, surely everyone is searching for you? So something like that would definitely bring that world's me to seek this one out!" The boy looks so proud of his deduction.

Tsuna grasps for words.

"Well, it's the working plan," Byakuran admits, dropping some of his bravado. "For now let's swap stories~ I'll need to know what kind of Tsunayoshi-kun I'm looking at."

That's easier to swallow. "Right," Tsuna agrees.

* * *

"I see~ So you came to this world because of an errant Ten Year Bazooka?" Byakuran laughs, finding some kind of abstract humor in Tsuna's misery. "That sounds tough. I guess then that the entire reason this world diverged from yours is all because of Tsunayoshi-kun's actions then!" He giggles again.

Tsuna deflates, his unwanted theory confirmed. "… Does that mean that my world is…?"

"Gone?" Byakuran finishes for Tsuna when he hesitates.

Tsuna winces.

"Hmm. Possibly. If the past you went to was directly linked to your world, then it might have erased your specific world," Byakuran explains, tone light. Tsuna can feel his blood start to drain from his face. "But of course, there is also a chance that your trip just diverged your original world from this one and the parallel event where Tsunayoshi-kun did _not_ come to the past could have continued on to create your world. This is all speculative, of course."

Tsuna's head spins. What he gets is, "Then there's a chance my world is alright…?"

Byakuran hums. "I suppose so. Don't be too gloomy, Tsunayoshi-kun. The thing about parallel worlds is that there is always a chance of anything happening."

'Anything', huh? Tsuna frowns. "There's something bothering me though, Byakuran. I don't remember ever being attacked when I was younger," he admits, the thought weighing on him. "Considering I was already in the thick of it when I arrived… I couldn't have affected this world even _before_ I arrived, right? The Ten Year Bazooka doesn't quite work like that…?"

But the Ten Year Bazooka had definitely hit him. Though considering the, er, _special_ treatment it'd received before it hit Tsuna, he supposed anything could have happened.

"That certainly is odd," Byakuran agrees. He opens his mouth to say something else, but pauses. "Hmm… Ten years ago, huh? I suppose a lot of interesting things happened around then with the Vongola?"

Tsuna thinks. "The Shimon-Daemon incident and Xanxus…?" He can't quite remember the fancy titles for the tragedies, but rather, the people involved.

Byakuran shrugs. "Something of the sort. Either way, there was a large opening for your father's enemies to do untoward things around that time. I'm not surprised younger-you was attacked. How confident are you of your memories?" The boy pauses, taking in how uncertain Tsuna looks. "Things may go wrong when you cross worlds, Tsunayoshi-kun. I wonder, have you met _Ghost_?"

Tsuna certainly had. He shivers a bit. That could have been him? "Uh, I don't really feel any different though. Besides, didn't I just cross time rather than dimensions?" The whole business with the Ten Year Bazooka still has Tsuna's brains scrambling. This add-on of "divergent timelines" and "parallel worlds" certainly doesn't help his comprehension of the subject.

"I wonder about that," Byakuran says lightly, but doesn't expand on his words. "At any rate, we'd best get you caught up on _this_ present. It seems a lot has gone differently from Tsunayoshi-kun's world."

Ominous words.

"Er, how exactly…?" Tsuna asks, prodding the subject when Byakuran doesn't continue, instead staring at Tsuna rather expectantly.

Byakuran brightens, the cheerful harbinger of bad news. "To put things simply, the Vongola is still fighting over who gets to be Decimo. I suppose since Tsunayoshi-kun was supposed dead, Tsunayoshi-kun's father ran out of candidates he approved of."

"They're still…?" Tsuna says, hesitantly. It made sense. Kind of. If all the other candidates had died like they had in Tsuna's original time, and with Xanxus not able to actually take over because of his heritage and lack thereof, Vongola would be in a tight spot with no available heirs. "I guess they don't have any candidates for the Tenth anymore, right?"

"Oh they have enough, I think," Byakuran says. Tsuna blinks. Who? "Xanxus is already calling himself Vongola Decimo anyways. The only thing keeping him from officially being Decimo is the Vongola CEDEF's approval." The boy waves an unconcerned hand. "Apparently, Vongola traditions are absolute with these guys. There are rumors about the CEDEF having its own boss candidate though. CEDEF and the Varia factions have been fighting over this stuff for, oh, the past three years or so?" Byakuran pauses to count the years with his hands. He nods, satisfied his numbers are correct. "Yeah, three years."

So ever since Xanxus woke up, Tsuna figures by his own count of years he's spent avoiding his own title. He frowns. "What about Gra – er, Nono? Isn't he in charge of Vongola? Does he support Xanxus?" How else would Vongola be split? Tsuna recalls there was a plot about replacing Nono and using him as the Gola Mosca's power source, but since there were no other people to fight over the rings, perhaps that didn't happen?

"The previous boss died during the initial struggle," Byakuran states plainly.

It feels a little like ripping off a band-aid. "Oh," Tsuna says, voice faint.

"They've stopped fighting since the first bout – Vongola's doing this kind of cold war stand-off for the moment," Byakuran says, after a pause. "Vongola CEDEF versus Vongola Varia. A lot of mafia Families have a stake in it." An unsettling grin stretches over the boy's face, and Byakuran leans in uncomfortably close, as though entrusting Tsuna with a juicy secret. "The next time they start fighting, the whole mafia world might go down with them, you know? Tsunayoshi-kun's come at an interesting time. I'd give them a year at max before the Vongola breaks out into outright fighting by this point." Byakuran leans back, giggling. "Speaking of, did you know your father is in Namimori, Tsunayoshi-kun? CEDEF without its leader – if the Varia finds out, I don't doubt fighting might start within the week."

Tsuna swallows thickly. He hadn't been expecting the Mafia world to be so fragile. With how peaceful everything else looks – well. Of course nothing would be as he anticipated it.

And Byakuran wants Tsuna to retrieve the Vongola rings of this world when it's in this kind of condition. Yikes.

"Uhm," Tsuna says. "Byakuran, if the Vongola is so precariously balanced right now, who has the rings?" And. "… Is it really okay if we borrow them? Wouldn't something like that hurt this situation? A lot?"

Once upon a time, Tsuna vowed to destroy the Vongola itself. This really isn't the way he'd expected it to go.

"I don't know who has the rings exactly. Probably Xanxus. I think I've seen him with it at some point or another. They guard those things jealously, you know. I hardly see any Vongola outside of meetings anyways and even then," Byakuran says. "I don't doubt taking the rings would cause them a lot of trouble." He laughs. "Though of course, it might stop the fighting too. Just imagine." The boy brightens, his amusement starting to lift him off his seating cushion. "The rightful Vongola Decimo appearing out of nowhere between the fighting! They might just stop to gawk."

Tsuna imagines the next scene would be Xanxus firing Tsuna into the nearest vertical wall. He winces. "I really rather not, Byakuran. Isn't there a better way to go about this?" A less violent way?

Byakuran pouts. "I suppose we can always wait out the war. Or help out a side. The two of us combined would flatten any opposition anyways. They still haven't figured out boxes here."

Tsuna frowns at the suggestion – why was the answer always fighting? – but nods about the box technology. His own world had a ten-year boost from the transferred memories, so it was no wonder other worlds might not quite be up to speed.

"… Is there no way we might be able to stop them from fighting?" Tsuna tries.

"I suppose there might be, but if there is, I don't know it," Byakuran says, eyeing Tsuna expectantly. "I've never been particularly interested in stopping them. The Vongola of now doesn't really have anyone I'm interested in anyways," the boy says blithely.

Tsuna deflates. Of course. So much trouble over a set of rings.

Wait. The rings.

"Say, Byakuran?" Tsuna starts. "Is the CEDEF's Decimo candidate legitimate?" If the CEDEF candidate is related to one of the Vongola bosses by blood, then the rings might accept them rather than Xanxus – the strongly traditional Vongola would surely accept the rings' decision right? Decimo succession solved!

Byakuran blinks at Tsuna. "Legitimate? I suppose so. Wouldn't be much of a candidate if they weren't."

Tsuna nods. Surely his dad wouldn't support a person who had no chance of becoming the next boss in the first place? He's not entirely certain where they managed to find another candidate, but that's an issue to agonize about to himself later. For now….

Tsuna smiles at Byakuran. "I think I have a plan."

* * *

"By the way, Tsunayoshi-kun, you might want to clear things up with Yamamoto-kun." Byakuran grins.

"About what?" Tsuna asks, apprehensive. Please don't tell him Byakuran is going to make him come clean about this whole mafia and time slash parallel universe traveling issue to _civilian _Takeshi.

"Well," Byakuran starts. He leans in to whisper the rest into Tsuna's ear.

Tsuna flushes violently, stepping away from the taller boy. "He thinks we're _what_?!"

* * *

"T-Takeshi-kun, can I talk to you…?" Tsuna asks, watching the other boy dig through his closet for an extra pair of pajamas on loan. (Tsuna is _not_ braving going outside at the moment. The thought of having to watch out for his dad is really not appealing.)

Takeshi pauses in his rummaging to smile at Tsuna. "What's up?"

"Er. About Byakuran," Tsuna starts.

"It's okay!" Takeshi interrupts quickly. "He's from afar, right? The two of you are _completely_ entitled to –"

"No! No that's not it at all!" Tsuna yelps, stemming the other boy's descent into embarrassing territory. "He's a really shady character. He sounds really suspicious, I know, but it's not like that! Honest."

Takeshi blinks. And stares up at Tsuna, flushing. "Er, really? You don't need to cover for anything. I'm really okay with it –"

"Really," Tsuna says firmly.

"Oh. Okay," Takeshi says. He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I jumped the gun, huh?"

"It's okay," Tsuna sighs. This is just the kind of way his life tends to crash. "And, uh, actually I have something else to talk to you about," Tsuna adds, getting to the actual point of his conversation. "Uh. It's about my dad." He pauses, hesitant about encroaching the topic, but he doesn't really know whom else to talk about this with. Byakuran would be singularly unhelpful considering his… human interaction skills, and Tsuna doesn't actually know anyone else in this world.

So. Takeshi.

"Ah," Takeshi says, pulling his hands out of his closet. He turns to give Tsuna his full, undivided attention. "What's up?"

Tsuna smiles wanly, warmed by Takeshi's support. "I've been thinking. I need to talk to my dad properly at some point, you know? I, uh, do kind of feel bad for avoiding him, but I don't." Tsuna hesitates. "I don't know what I'd say to him. How I'd prove to him I'm really me, you know?"

Tsuna is not sure if it's Mafioso Iemitsu searching for him or Loser-Dad Iemitsu searching for him, and especially with what he learned from Byakuran, the distinction might be the difference between a dangerous encounter and a slightly annoying one. (Years of working with his dad as a Mafioso and Tsuna is still uncertain how to gauge the man. He's just never spent enough time with his dad to know – and frankly he doesn't really want to. It's a headache dealing with Iemitsu's flip switch-like manner changes every meeting.)

Takeshi hums thoughtfully. "Hmm. I guess being away from home does make things like that a little hard. Maybe you can reminisce about something with your dad? A good memory or something. Or if you have a birthmark somewhere? I think I saw a daytime drama like that." Takeshi smiles.

Tsuna thinks he's seen his mom watch something like that too. "I don't. Uh. Have any particular birth marks, I think," he admits. "And the less I say about memories with my dad the better." All his experiences with Iemitsu tended to end with Tsuna in tears until he was about ten. Hey, Dad, remember the time you took me to the zoo and held me over the railing of one of the cages and I cried the rest of the day? Yeah no.

Takeshi frowns. "Tsuna, I've been thinking, but what kind of person is your dad?" The boy eyes Tsuna critically. "I know maybe I've only really known you for a little while, but you don't seem to like your old man much." Takeshi bites his lip. "It's just my opinion, but do you absolutely have to meet your dad, Tsuna? Pops keeps tensing up whenever I mention your dad to him, and Dad's really not the type to dislike people much, you know?"

Tsuna blinks at Takeshi, stunned. "Er, does he really seem that bad to Yamamoto-san?" This world's Iemitsu isn't terrible or more evil than Tsuna's own world's, is he? Maybe the Vongola civil war changed his dad…? For some reason Tsuna had never even considered how _different_ people may be here compared to his own world. Perhaps he should have.

Tsuna frowns. "To be frank, I'm not really very fond of my dad. The Dad I remember was never at home, always drank a lot, and was really pushy," he admits. "He's a no good father. But..." Tsuna straightens. "This kind of situation – it really is best I talk to him. There's something I absolutely have to do, and I need to talk to my dad to do it." Tsuna needs to meet the CEDEF's Decimo candidate. It is troublesome, but Tsuna really does need to get between the Vongola somehow.

"I don't really understand," Takeshi says, expression troubled. "But if you think so." The boy smiles at Tsuna. "Just know you have my full support, Tsuna."

"Thanks, Takeshi-kun," Tsuna says with feeling. He really doesn't deserve such a good friend.

"Anytime." Takeshi grins back. "… Also about your dad… Do you have anything with you? A distinguishing item might also help."

"A distinguishing item…?" Tsuna frowns, thinking. The chains on his Vongola gear jingle as he fiddles with the rings, and Tsuna blinks. He looks down at his right hand. Actually…"I think I might," Tsuna says, a small smile spreading over his face as he considers the idea.

The light glints off the words "Vongola Famiglia" engraved in the ring.

* * *

Sorry. This was a bit of a word grind kind of chapter.

If you have questions feel free to ask.


End file.
